In its broadest mission, the Immunoassay Core provides technical support and services for the application and innovation of immunoassays. These activities serve as a critical link between basic and clinical investigators. Members of BADERC can access state-of-the-art commercial immunoassays for measuring a wide range of analytes. Many of these are fully automated, high speed systems that can support very large testing volumes and multi-site studies. Importantly, the Immunoassay Core is experienced in adapting these systems to measurements using animal serum or plasma (rats and mice.) The Core also provides access to radioimmunoassay that has been established for many years in Dr Habener's laboratory for metabolic studies in animals and humans. Access to well validated and standardized assays provides interpretive power based upon large normative and pathophysiologic databases thus serving as a crucial backdrop for clinical investigations. The effort to translate basic research into clinical advances benefits by our ability to expedite the transfer of newly identified biomarkers into novel assays that meet the need for the high volume, precise, and sensitive clinical measurements needed to objectively assess the value of new biomarkers. As investigators increasingly focus upon the genetic basis of human disease, an effective mechanism is needed to provide the requisite analytic methods to characterize phenotypic correlates and to assess the incidence of specific genetic-based defects in clinical (e.g., human) and animal models. The Immunoassay Core provides monoclonal facilities and expertise in the generation of antibodies for immunoassay and reagents.